


What Is In A Name?

by ShiroiKabocha



Category: Myst Series
Genre: Gen, for serious, her name is not catherine, it is katran
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 11:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1224400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiroiKabocha/pseuds/ShiroiKabocha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katran reaches the end of her willpower.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Is In A Name?

Katran inspected the unconscious man on the pallet. He was pale, and not just from his sickly state; his skin was clearly not the sun-baked brown of a Rivenese. There was no numbered marking on his neck. Katran picked up the goggles that had been in his pocket and turned them over in her fingers, observing and considering. They looked like Gehn’s. Could this be a servant… companion… friend, enemy, of Gehn’s, from his own world?

She jumped back as the man coughed, breaking the silence of the dark hut. He sat up, eyes darting wildly before they locked on her face. There they stayed, for a moment or two longer than was strictly polite. Blushing, he cast his eyes down at his hands and mumbled something like an apology. 

Katran raised an eyebrow at the stranger’s actions, but dismissed them. The poor guy had been dragged unconscious from what was nearly a death by drowning, for wahrk’s sake. He could be forgiven for being a little disoriented.

“You almost died,” she said, getting straight to the point. “What were you doing in the pool?”

He stuttered for a moment, then mumbled, “I don’t know.” It was obviously a lie.

She tried again. “Where did you come from?”

“Another place.” All right, not a lie, but certainly not the whole truth. This person, whoever he was, didn't seem very talkative. Either that, or he was still dizzy from his little swim. She asked the simplest question she could think of.

“What’s your name?”

“Atrus. What’s yours?”

“Katran.”

Atrus nodded absently. "Catherine. That’s…"

Katran shook her head. "Ka-tran," she repeated, stressing the hard sound of the ‘t’. 

“Right, Catherine.” Atrus yawned, then held his head as if trying to steady his dizziness. “It’s nice to meet you, Catherine.”

Katran wondered if there wasn't still some water in his ears. "No, that's not quite it—"

But she didn't get any further, because Atrus fell back on the bed, lapsing into sleep once again. She sighed. "Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter."

\-----

Atrus squinted as he emerged into the sunlight from the tunnel, following Katran through her “impossible” Age. She smiled to herself, watching his amazement grow at every turn. And he’d called her writing impractical.

He stood on the outcropping of rock at the edge of the whirlpool, staring, mouth open, at the towering thunderclouds in the distance. “It’s… it’s astounding…” he said. Something on the ground caught his eye. He knelt to take one of the delicate blue flowers in his hand, rising and turning back towards Katran. There were tears in his smiling eyes.

“This is beautiful,” he said to her, taking her hand. “Absolutely… beautiful, Catherine.”

She twinged a little inside, but smiled warmly. _It was an honest mistake,_ she thought. _I shouldn't correct him when he’s trying to be nice._ “Thank you.”

Atrus turned away again, to get a closer look at the whirlpool. “The water… it falls through…” he reasoned, excitement growing in his voice. “And those thunderclouds… you put most of the mass at the outer edge of the torus, didn't you, Catherine?” 

“Yes,” she said, starting to walk up the hill towards him. “And, you know, it’s pronounced Katran, really.”

“What’s that?” Atrus cupped a hand to his ear. “I can’t hear you over the whirlpool.”

“Yes, I did,” she called, louder this time. “And my name—“

“Fantastic!” Atrus said. “I've never seen a world like this! It’s beyond anything I’d thought possible, but you did it.” He held his hands out to encompass the whole mind-blowing view. “Catherine, you’re a genius.”

She sighed. _I suppose it doesn't really matter._ “Thank you, Atrus.”

\-----

The sun set over Myst's rosy ocean waters, its last rays glowing on the redwoods and casting long shadows over the forest. Atrus and Katran lay on the beach, side by side, Katran’s head resting in the crook of Atrus’ arm. Ti’ana was watching the boys, allowing their tired parents a moment of quiet together. The stars blinked into the sky one by one as the sun slipped lower.

“I love you, Catherine,” Atrus whispered, kissing her forehead lightly.

The now familiar soft ‘th’ sent a ripple across Katran’s drowsy peacefulness. For the thousandth time, she corrected him softly. “Katran,” she murmured.

“What’s that, dear?”

She considered restating her name, more loudly this time, but thought better of it. “I love you too, Atrus.” Katran turned on her side and drew close to her husband, closing her eyes and sighing. _I can set him straight in the morning,_ she thought. _And after all, it doesn't really matter._

\-----

Atrus knelt by Katran’s bedside, cooing at the bundle of joy in her arms. He tickled their new daughter’s tiny feet, sending a bubbling laugh tumbling from the baby’s mouth.

“Yeesha,” he said, moving Katran’s pillows so she could sit up more comfortably. “She certainly earns her name, doesn't she?”

“Yes, she does,” Katran agreed. She held the child out to Atrus. “Would you like to hold her?”

Atrus took Yeesha in his arms and cradled her to his chest. “Little Yeesha… Oh, Catherine, she’s beautiful.”

Katran frowned, but Atrus was looking at Yeesha and didn't see it. _I've just had a baby,_ she rationalized. _I have a new baby girl. Why should I be upset over a misspoken name?_ Katran looked at her daughter, giggling in the arms of the man Katran loved, and was filled with a serene, maternal happiness.

“She has your eyes, Catherine,” Atrus said.

Katran sighed again. _I guess, in the scheme of things, it doesn't really matter._

* * *

“Catherine,” Atrus said, his words muffled through a mouthful of his breakfast. He gestured with his spoon to the letter on the table. “Yeesha writes that she's getting settled rather well at the Cleft. Want me to—"

He was cut off by a clang from the kitchen that sent the birds on the railing of the Tomahna veranda fluttering. Atrus looked up from the letter toward Katran, who had been washing dishes at the basin. She had dropped a huge cast iron skillet.

“My name,” she said, her voice clipped, “is not ‘Catherine.’” Katran turned around, arms crossed over her chest. “You have called me Catherine since the day we met, and I've tried to correct you many times to no avail. We've been married for decades, and you still call me Catherine.” She threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. “Did it ever occur to you that my parents grew up on Riven and would never have heard of the Christian martyr Catherine? Didn't you ever think it ill-fitting that the name you've been calling me all this time sounds nothing like the names of anyone else you've met from my homeland?”

Atrus blinked, stunned by the sudden outburst. Katran continued without a breath. “My name is _Katran!_ ” she shouted. “Ka-tran. It’s easy. Kat, like a cat, and then ran, as in the past tense of the English verb ‘to run.’ There is no ‘th’ between the syllables, no nasal short ‘ih’ sound anywhere in the word. It is not Catherine, but Katran. Katran! _Katran!_ ” She towered over Atrus, fuming.

He peered up at her looming form. “Katran, is it?”

Katran nodded, breathing a vindicated sigh of relief. “Yes, _that_ is my name.”

"Well, then why didn't you ever tell me before, love?"

**Author's Note:**

> Old fic is oooold
> 
> Is it a family tradition or something for the Atrus clan to rename their wives? "Anna? Nah, not D'ni enough. How about Ti'ana?" "Leira? Oh no, that won't do at all. I'm calling you Keta." "You name is Catherine, right? I totally heard that right the first time and I will never question it again." Seriously, dudes, learn the names of the women you love!


End file.
